Stephanie Quayle Infuses Her Western Roots Into New EP, ‘If I Was A Cowboy’

What's your favorite song from Stephanie's new EP?

Stephanie Quayle Infuses Her Western Roots Into New EP, ‘If I Was A Cowboy’
Stephanie Quayle; Photo Credit: Melanie Maganias Nashan

Stephanie Quayle released her western-inspired EP, If I Was A Cowboy, Friday (10/4). The five-song project comes off as a positive journey of managing heartbreak, learning from mistakes, having fun, and finding one’s own purpose and potential in life. The EP as a whole was influenced by Quayle’s upbringing in Montana where she lived the cowboy life on a ranch.

“I’ve never felt more me from every aspect of my life, and I think that really honing into your authenticity takes the time that it takes, and you have to really cancel out the noise,” Quayle says of the project.

Nothing encapsulates the cowboy lifestyle more than the title and lead track, “If I Was A Cowboy.” The tune, written by Nicolle Galyon, Ross Copperman, and Shane McAnally, finds Quayle searching for that emotional peace that cowboys appear to possess.

“Our time is so precious and that cowboy state of mind is like, ‘You know what? You don’t have time to worry about this. You don’t have time to stay in this,’” Quayle says. “Feel your heartbreak, feel your disappointment, feel those emotions, but then allow yourself to move on. That’s the cowboy state of mind that I grew up with. My mom would say get back up on the horse. Wipe the tears, and get back on.”

That theme of getting back on the horse is present in other songs on the project including the high-flying “Evel Knievel” and the sassy “Second Rodeo.” However, Quayle takes a break from the introspection to have some fun in her current radio single, “Whatcha Drinkin ‘Bout.”

“It has so much personality and fun, and that acoustic guitar that comes in midway through the bridge sends my brain into a different stratosphere,” she says of the single. “Every single time we play that song live, every time I listen to the recording, I’m obsessed with it. It’s just country. It’s easy. I want you to be deep in thought and then I also want you to be able to not have to think.”

After exploring many facets of life, If I Was A Cowboy culminates with the inspiring “Untitled.” Written by Galyon, Copperman and Ashley Gorley, the song serves as a reminder to the listener that the possibilities in this life are endless, and that the story is still being written. That theme is what Quayle hopes fans glean from the entire project.

“I want people to feel good, and I love creating music that hopefully makes you feel a little bit grittier, a little bit tougher, and a little bit more willing to take on the world,” she says.